HOME CHURCH GUIDE
In this season where our Church is unable to gather as a whole family for worship, we’re seeking to equip our Restoration family for God’s work among them – right where they are. That’s what Home Church is all about: giving you tools to gather with community groups or other believers (*safely* in person or online) for a shared experience of worship with the whole Restoration family. Below, you’ll find three movements of worship together: Worship (praise and prayer), Word (opening the Scriptures), and Witness (talking it out and living it out. So whether with a community group or a friend or two, let’s worship together!
FAMILY WORSHIP GUIDE
As we make our way through the story of God, we are prioritizing the discipleship of our children through our Family Worship Guide each week! Each week, you’ll find questions, activitives, and other fun stuff that follows along with the same passages as the adults. Join us!
Family Worship Guide: Click Here!
WORSHIP: PRAISE AND PRAYER
Worship is the continual process of orienting our hearts around that which we value most. Each Sunday, we worship in song and prayer to offer our hearts and allegience to Jesus, who alone is worthy of our praise. In your Home Churches, we encourage worship through the use of the video below or by worship in person. If you cannot participate through song in your group, spend time answering this question:
What do I have to praise God for this week?
Prayer for the week:
“Faithful God of an unfaithful people,
The people of Israel doubted your power and turned to other gods to fulfill their needs. We too, turn to other gods, seeking acceptance, power, and independence. Show us how to live humbly in you, and walk in your ways, in the name of the one who offered true power to all humanity, Jesus Christ. Amen.”
WITNESS: TALK AND LIVE IT OUT
This Week’s Scripture: Exodus 32:1-14
Whether among your community group or a few friends over Zoom, we want to challenge you to move beyond just knowledge and information and into practicing the way of Jesus in your everyday life! But we do this together. Below you’ll find some questions to discuss, as well as next steps for living it out!
Opening Discussion
We’re all prone to idolatry – creating stand-ins for God to appease our sense of discomfort or lack of control. This week, both personally and in Home Church, process through where you’re prone to turn to idols that replace God. Here’s some questions to ponder:
Idols are motivated by fear (v. 1).
What hypothetical future am I afraid of, and what idol am I using to keep these fears at bay?
Idols always demand a sacrifice (v. 2-3).
What am I losing in order to appease the fear I’m trying to avoid? What is this worship costing me spiritually, financially, emotionally, relationally?
Idols appeal to a nostalgic past (v. 4).
What distorted past is my idol promising me to “get back to?”
Idols are satisfied with lip service to God (vs. 5).
In what ways am I forcing God onto my own agenda?
Studying The Scriptures Together
- What does this passage tell us about God?
What do we learn about his character, his posture, and his purpose in our world? - What does this passage tell us about ourselves?
What do we see in this passage that brings clarity to our identity and purpose in our world? - How does this passage help us love our neighbors?
In light of what we’ve learned about God and ourselves, how might this story empower us to listen, learn, and love our neighbors well? - How can we put this into practice?
What would it look like to embody what this story teaches us in ways that make us more like Jesus in both our words and actions in our world?